--- title: 10 Enemies of Productivity | The Sales Blog description: These are productivity’s 10 enemies. image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_183496451.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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Without a target, there is nothing to aim for. Without goals, you are simply [drifting](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/stop-drifting), reacting to whatever acts on you. Goals are what allow you to be proactive and take initiative. Without goals, you can be very busy without being productive, leading to what is often called toxic productivity—where being busy overshadows being effective. 2. **No Plan**: A well thought-out, written plan is the map that guides your actions. Without a plan to reach your goals, the actions you take won’t get you where you want to go. 3. **No Master List**: A yellow legal pad might be the right tool to track all of the many things that come into your life, but it’s not likely. You need a master list of every project, every task, and every piece of incoming information you need to take action on. Without this list, commitments are lost, and so is your productivity. 4. **No Weekly Review**: Once a week (at minimum), you have to spend the time evaluating your priorities and [adjusting your plans](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/8-steps-to-building-a-model-sales-week). Without spending time reviewing your priorities and making adjustments to your calendar, you can’t make progress on your most important priorities. In fact, you won’t even know what your priorities are. 5. **No Time Blocking**: Part of a good weekly review is blocking the time you need to take action on your most important priorities. If you don’t take time to plan your week, then others will plan your week for you. 6. **Over-committed**: Busy people get more done. Over-committed people get the wrong things done. Focus is saying no to all but the few things that really matter. Being overcommitted is to pretend that everything matters and all the choices of what to do with your limited time are equal. Commit to doing more work, but only the work that  matters. 7. **Under-committed**: This isn’t having too little to do, even though that is possible. It’s not being committed enough to your goals, your dreams, and your priorities. If you want to live a productive life, you must have a fire in your belly. 8. **Procrastination**: Being productive means taking action on what matters most. You procrastinate when you know what you need to do but aren’t inspired enough to take action or aren’t disciplined enough to do the work that is necessary. When you are committed to meaningful goals, even the [rote actions](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/the-work-you-must-do-yourself) get done. 9. **Burnout**: Being productive is only sustainable when you take time away from doing the work to refresh, reset, and recharge. The more you do, the more you need time to recover. Burnout comes when you don’t take care of the only real asset through which you produce results.  This can be another side effect of toxic productivity, where overworking leads to diminishing returns. 10. **Inability to Say No**: [Saying no](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/a-12-step-program-for-saying-no) to small things is how you preserve your time for big things. Without the ability to say no, other people’s priorities will crowd out your real priorities. Being productive requires that you say no far more than you say yes. ###### Tags: [Productivity](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/productivity) [2015](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2015) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on February 10, 2015 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![maximize-productivity-ebook-v3-1-cover (2)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/maximize-productivity-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(2).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=maximize-productivity-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(2).jpg) ### Maximize Productivity Being productive means getting important things done. The big stuff. The stuff that moves you toward accomplishing your biggest, most important goals. [![DOWNLOAD EBOOK](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/faff89b7-a7a5-474e-9a53-68c41c02cd55.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/faff89b7-a7a5-474e-9a53-68c41c02cd55) ## Are You Ready To Solve Your Sales Challenges? ![Anthony-Solve-Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Anthony-Solve-Sales.png?width=290&height=221&name=Anthony-Solve-Sales.png) Hi, I’m Anthony. I help sales teams make the changes needed to create more opportunities & crush their sales targets. What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2024-09-04T1:25:31 PM", "datePublished" : "2015-02-10 21:00:17", "description" : "These are productivity’s 10 enemies.", "headline" : "10 Enemies of Productivity", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 16, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/Image/favicon.ico", "width" : 16 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/10-enemies-productivity", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "name" : "10 Enemies of Productivity", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 24, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/TSB/images/TSB%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "width" : 228 }, "name" : "The Sales Blog" } } ```